Jimmy Wang upsets Igor Kunitsyn in the opening round clash – Hall of Fame Championships 2011
A major upset for tennis fans at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, as the third seed Russian, Igor Kunitsyn, crashed out of the opening round of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, at the hands of Jimmy Wang of Chinese Taipei on Tuesday.
On the second day of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament, the Taiwanese qualifier stunned everyone by defeating the world number 62 after a stiff contest. Wang wrapped up victory in the third set, settling the final scores at 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, after two hours and thirty one minutes of gruesome tennis from both contestants.
26-yerar-old Wang had a sluggish start to the contest, dropping the opener early but gathered up pace in the later parts of the game to conclude a surprise victory in the end. The tide turned in the second set when Wang stung in a crucial serve break out of nowhere to make a impactful comeback in the contest and enforced a third one. The Taiwanese had least difficulty in driving Kunitsyn out of the competition in the final set and stood victorious to carry on his voyage in the second round of the tournament.
The third seed Kunitsyn was off to a flyer in the first set, drawing first blood by breaking his opponent’s serve in the second game, only to be broken in the very next game. The Russian secured 18 out of 25 first serve points and belted his second break point of the day to seal the opening set at 6-4, getting the upper hand in the contest.
The next set witnessed intense tennis from both men, exchanging two serve breaks early in the set to take the scores to 5-5. Wang exhibited great resilience in the second set and met Kunitsyn’s aggression with great belligerence. It appeared as if the set was heading for a tie breaker round but a vital serve break from the Taiwanese in the last moments turned the course of the game, with Wang winning the set at 7-5 to level the matchup at one-all.
Kunitsyn lost all of his steam by the third set and dropped his serve three times to let Wang away with an emphatic victory at 6-2.
The Taiwanese will compete against Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the second round of Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships later this week.
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